Alan Greenspan via the Journal
In an appearance Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Greenspan used his strongest words yet to urge lawmakers to let them expire. The risk of a U.S. debt crisis, he said, is just too big. Mr. Greenspan, who retired from the Federal Reserve in 2006, had endorsed the cuts back in 2001 championed by then-President George W. Bush.
“This crisis is so imminent and so difficult that I think we have to allow the so-called Bush tax cuts all to expire. That is a very big number,” he said, referring to how much the U.S. government could save from letting income taxes go back up to levels last seen under former President Bill Clinton
I concur with Mark Thoma that a debt crisis is not imminent for the United States. I doubt even that such a crisis will occur in a decade, even with no policy change.
However, it does seem likely to me that the Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire in the near future.
1 comment
Comments feed for this article
Monday ~ April 25th, 2011 at 9:06 am
Th
Not to defend Greenspan, but I seem to remember he called for triggers on the Bush tax cuts to undo them if deficits returned. He was ignored.